The BEST OF THE BEST in 2013!

WOO-HOO!!!

The results are in.... 

 We now have the 'official" list of THE BEST SELLING PATTERNS of 2013! 

 The hottest of the hot and the most sought-after patterns around! 

No need to keep you waiting... let's just get right to it, shall we!?? 
(items are listed in no particular order)

The Handmaiden's Cottage

The Tea Party Dress

Whimsy Couture
Bodacious Bow Peasant Dress

The Handmaiden's Cottage 

 Swing Dress

My Childhood Treasures 

 Elke Dress

Foofoo Threads 

World's Cutest Triple-Ruffle Pants

Foofoo Threads
Sugarplum Princess Dress

Sew Sweet Patterns
Morgan Dress

The Handmaiden's Cottage
Petticoat

Foofoo Threads

Victorian Romance

My Childhood Treasures

 Bluebell Dress

Foofoo Threads

Four-Seasons Knit Peasant Dress or Top

Sew Sweet Patterns

 The Maggie Dress 

Bettsy Kingston

Reversible Girl's Jacket

You can see the trend, right? It was a year of sophisticated fluff!
Beautiful, feminine, and layered looks were top of the list for 2013!
Let's hear it from those of you who purchased some of these wonderful patterns! 
How did you like them?  Did you have special occasions for your selections?
  If you would like to "SHOW OFF" --- head over to our Facebook Page! 
We would love to see your little sweeties in these beautiful dresses! 

With so many new items already popping in for 2014...
We can't wait to see what this year will bring! 
Keep your eyes on our New Arrivals to keep up with
the latest and greatest from your favorite pdf sewing pattern designers!
 

Watch for the new designers to roll-in, too! 
We have our eyes on some great new lines!   

Thank you for making Fairytale Frocks and Lollipops so special!  

We appreciate each and every one of you!

Sew and Tell with the Victorian Romance

Hi everyone!  How did you like that long weekend?  Did you get a lot of sewing done?  Me, not so much (insert very sad face here).  I've got a few things sitting on my cutting table just begging me to work on them, and this little dress is one of them!  So excited to be sharing this review of the Victorian Romance Tunic/Dress from Foofoo Threads sent in to us by one of our wonderful customers!  We'll have it for 25% off on the website for a limited time, so hurry over!

I fell in love with Foofoo Threads from the first second I saw one of Jocelyn's patterns!  If you are looking for ruffles, frills, and all sorts of girly-goodness, you'll love what she has to offer!  Her designs are the epitome of princess dresses for everyday wear.  I've sewn up a few so far and have been very impressed with the directions and the fit.  She's very detailed and provides great instructions on how to change up the look so you can create exactly the outfit that's right for your little one!  In her patterns, you'll find fabric requirements, size charts, and both photos and sketches to help you see exactly what you should be doing at each step.  You'll also find that instead of wasting your ink and paper to print out a large rectangle, she just gives you the measurements so you can use your cutting mat to get those pieces.  There is only a total of 6 pages of pattern pieces for the Victorian Romance pattern, and all sizes are neatly nested and color coded using beautiful graphics.  Everything is neatly labeled and numbered, just as it should be :) 

The Victorian Romance can be made in sizes 12m- Girls 8.  It features a sweetheart neckline, puffed sleeves, a wrap skirt adorned with ruffles, a flattering sash, and a shirred back bodice for the perfect fit!  If you've never tried shirring, let me just say that it's a piece of cake.  If your machine is giving you grief, do a Google search on how to shirr with your specific machine.  Brother's are notorious for being difficult because of the automatic tension adjustment, but you'll be able to learn some tricks to teach it who's boss ;)  I should have a tutorial on shirring posted in the next week or so.  You can use the pattern to make a dress or tunic and can choose either short or 3/4 length sleeves!   

Let's take a look at the review sent in to us by Rebecca W.

 

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I have been sewing on and off for about twenty years.  My mom taught me how to sew in her basement as I was growing up.  My daughter was born three years ago, and I sewed a few things for her, but then my husband bought me a new sewing machine, and I've been sewing nonstop ever since.  My mom and I run a sewing shop together, and you can find it on Etsy or on Facebook.

 

The Victorian Romance pattern by Foofoo Threads is fabulous!  Some of the things I love about this pattern are that it is so unique with the sweetheart neck and peek a boo skirt.  Once I added the ruffle to the skirt it made a cute dress adorable!  I was so excited when I began reading the pattern because there were options for short or 3/4 length sleeves and options of tunic or dress length.  

 

Because of all of the fabulous details in this pattern it took me about eight hours to cut and sew the dress.  (I chose the dress length and 3/4 sleeves so I would be ready for fall.) The pattern included cutting measurements for all the pieces except the sweetheart bodice, which had pattern pieces.

 

The dress calls for a sash around the waist, but I ran out of fabric.  So until my order arrives, we are sash-less.  The skirt fabric is the blue Garden Charm by Michael Miller, and the ruffles are Kiss Dots Yellow by Michael Miller.  My daughter and I love everything about this dress.  I love all of the details that make it so unique, and my daughter loves the fabulous twirl of the dress.

 I looked at the sizing chart and chose a size larger than what my daughter measured, and I'm glad I did because the bodice has a snug fit. The pattern calls for you to sew a straight seam on the back bodice over the shirring, and I think next time I will not do this so the back has a little more give to it.

 If I were to recommend this pattern to another sewist, I would suggest it to an intermediate sewer because there are lot of ruffles, a sweetheart neck, and shirring on the back of the dress.  I have a Brother sewing machine and I've found shirring difficult until I found this shirring tutorial on YouTube. 

 As you can see from my pictures this dress has amazing ruffles and a great twirl factor! I love it, and my daughter's only complaint is that there isn't any pink on the dress.

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I'm pretty sure her daughter and I could be the best of friends, ha!  I have to admit, though, that I'm really digging the blue with yellow accent ruffle.  Rebecca did a beautiful job!  I always love, LOVE seeing what you all create!  It usually motivates me to finish my (never-ending) housework so I can sit down and sew, myself  :)

 

If you'd like to give this pattern a try, we have it on sale for 25% off for the next few days!  This could be a gorgeous Christmas dress, and it's never too soon to start thinking about Christmas attire!  Do yourself a favor and pick up this pattern while it's on sale! 

 

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  Pair it Up

This week, we'll take a look at a few other clothing items that feature the gorgeous wrap-around look!

 

 

 This is the Janie Curved Skirt from Hadley Grace Designs.  It comes in a huge range of sizes from NB- size 14!  This pattern is great for beginners and would be a quick sew!  We love the overlapping ruffle border!

 

This is the Ruffled Crossover Top from Monkeysbug Patterns.  Very feminine and unique.  It can be made in sizes 2T- Girls 10.  A gorgeous summer top that could easily be layered over a long-sleeve tee for those cooler days ahead! 

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Ok ladies, don't forget to head over to the website to purchase your Victorian Romance pattern for 25% off!  We also have a costume contest you might be interested in.  You can read all about our 1st Annual Handmade Halloween Costume Contest here!  We've got three really snazzy prize packages we'll be handing out to the winners, so go pick out your patterns and let your creative juices flow!  We'd love for you ALL to participate  :)

 

 

Go sew something magical!

 



Take a look at where we link up our blog posts! 

Sew and Tell with the Rilla Top!

 

Who's ready for a new Sew & Tell Review??  I know it's been a little longer than normal since we've posted a new review, but have you seen all the other fun posts we've been making recently? We've got a giveaway currently running to win a $25 gift certificate to the Fairytale Frocks & Lollipops website and we had our Knit-acular, Spectacular post to help you choose the right knit fabric for all those adorable and super-comfy knit patterns that are popping up everywhere! 

 

But back to the review... this week we are featuring the Rilla Top from SweetKid3!  How adorable is that?!?  It's the perfect top to pair with those ruffle pants we all love to make :)  Every little girl needs at least one shirt like this hanging in her closet!  It's roomy, airy, comfy... perfect for those hot summer play dates, but definitely stylish enough to be part of your little girl's nicer "boutique" wardrobe.  The size range is great, too- it comes in sizes 12m- 12 years.  You'll be able to make this one year after year!

 

The top comes together quickly, and as long as you know how to shirr, there shouldn't be anything difficult in store.  Take a look at this tutorial if your Brother doesn't want to play nice while shirring.  Mine never did until I tried what the tutorial said to do.  Now it's a piece of cake!  There are no pattern pieces to cut out and piece together, just measurements used to cut your fabric.  A great beginner pattern that is still interesting enough that even more advanced sewists will want to give it a try!   

 

Our friend, Jamie A,. sent in the following review.

 

 

Growing up, there was a family friend that was very crafty and taught me some very basics in sewing.  Sixteen years later I got back into sewing.  It was like riding a bike.  It just came back to me.  Besides what Barb taught me 16 years ago, I am very self-taught.  My first sewing project I attempted to make myself was a scrub top for work.  I literally took and old top, cut it up, and made a new pattern.  It didn’t turn out so bad.  I was then introduced (somehow) to PDF patterns.   I have found some amazing designers that have helped me.  I would say I am an advanced beginner.

I made the Rilla Top by SweetKid3 out of a woven cotton fabric.  This pattern is very easy.  From beginning to end, it took about 45 minutes.  There was quite a bit of shirring with the size 12 I made.  But if you know how to shirr, this pattern is a breeze.  What’s nice about the shirring is that it stretches so the top will last a few years.

I did try to stick to the pattern, but I found that attaching the straps first was a bit of a pain while trying to shirr.  So I took the straps off and added them after I was done.  I also didn’t do as many rows of shirring on the top.  Since my daughter is only 7, the shirring was a bit far down for my liking. 

I thought this pattern was very well written.  It is simple, but turns out really cute.  I feel like this pattern runs true to size.  There are several options for this top included in the pattern.  You could not shirr the bottom, add a ruffle, make the straps halter style, shirr a few rows on top and the middle, add a flower etc. 

 

LOVE IT!!!

 

Very versatile.  The Rilla Top looks great paired with jeans and wedges, and she looks so happy to be modeling it for us!  I'm also picturing it with a pair of skinny jeans tucked into some cowgirl boots, or maybe even with some length added to make it a "bubble" dress.  I wonder how that would look?!?  Someone sew it up as a dress and send us a picture!  Pretty please??  For our Australian friends, you can easily layer this top over a long-sleeved tee or turtle neck for added warmth.  Plus, Jamie gave us some great ideas of different ways to "spice up" the Rilla Top that will help you get more bang for your buck with this one! 

 

The best part?  It's 25% off right now!!  Yay!! 

 

 

Pair it up!

 

Because we know you all are always looking for the latest and greatest ruffle pants, take a look at the Carnival Pants from Foofoo Threads.  The tuxedo ruffle going down the side is a unique take on the classic ruffle pants style.  Make the ruching in a fun, contrasting print or keep it the same fabric as the rest of the pants to simply add some visual interest.  The pants can be made in either the floor length, cropped, or capri versions.  Be one of the first people to put your daughter in a pair of those pants or to offer it in your shop!  They'd look great with the Rilla Top:)  Available in sizes 6m- Girls 6.   

 

 

We don't want to forget about you, ladies, so here's a great top for you!!  Make a Rilla Top for your daughter and a matching Sunny Halter Top from Seamingly Smitten for yourself.  It's got a flattering fit and can be made in sizes XS-XL.  Sew it up in about an hour!  You and your daughter can have new shirts in about 2 hours... what a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon!  You can dress this top up or down depending on your fabric choices and how you "accessorize."  Don't forget that you deserve the fruits of your sewing-labor every now and then! 

 

Head over to the website to get your Rilla Top for 25% off for the next few days!!  If you need a last minute Mother's Day gift, we offer gift certificates!  Maybe you should mention to your children you'd like to receive one so you won't have to fake delight over their subpar gift this year (or does that only happen to me?!?)  I should show you a picture of the cow PJ's I got for Christmas this year ;) 

 

Go sew something magical!!